


From Here To Insomnia [Final Fantasy XV]

by UsernameToFollow



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-22
Updated: 2017-03-26
Packaged: 2018-10-09 05:59:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10405464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UsernameToFollow/pseuds/UsernameToFollow
Summary: A collection of (hopefully enjoyable) Final Fantasy XV stories, ranging from the short to the long, the comedic to the serious. Unless specified these can take place pretty much whenever you want them to, and if i do decide to put any spoilers in I promise to warn you all clearly.There'll probably be a lot of Hurt/Comfort, mainly because a cross country trip where they fight monsters constantly easily lends itself to Hurt/Comfort, but I promise I'll try and diversify.Enjoy and feel free to comment, be it good or bad (or not, I mean it's totally up to you) x





	1. Toxic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A nice gentle drive in the Regalia takes a turn when the gang find themselves having to settle in to camp earlier than expected to take care of one of their own.

The four sat in the Regalia, Ignis, as always, took the wheel with the prince and Gladio sat in the back, leaving Prompto in front to play with the radio. Between the Garulas they had been hunting through the morning and the pack of particularly ferocious Sabertusks that had ambushed them, the gang was rather tired and the atmosphere in the car was thoroughly subdued.

"You  _were_  planning on choosing a station I assume." Ignis shot at the young DJ in the passenger's seat.

"Fine, this'll do." Prompto said as he abandoned the radio and reclined back into his seat. Prompto, not one to sit still for long, quickly turned around to talk to the guys in the back seat. As he leant over the headrest of his chair he realised he wasn't going to get much conversation out of a sleeping Noctis and a reading Gladio. Disappointed that his only choice for conversation was Ignis, Prompto returned to his seat and slouched down in a hump.

"Are you ok there Prom?" Ignis asked with little concern, all the while keeping his eyes on the road.

"Bored!"

"Ah. I'm sorry that the car isn't as exciting as you'd like."

"It might be more exciting if you let me drive."

"Never." Ignis replied barely managing to contain his laughter. Prompto continued to sulk "It's not fair, I never get to drive."

"More importantly, you never get to crash." With that remark, Prompto decided that staring out at the late afternoon scenery would be more fun than putting up with Ignis' insults about his driving. For the next five minutes, Ignis was practically in heaven, everyone was quiet and more importantly, safe. Ignis had even allowed himself to tune almost everything out and was virtually driving on autopilot. He was so content that he almost missed the thud coming from the back seat.

"What was that?" He asked Prompto, not wanting to turn around himself. Prompto, who was eager for anything to occupy him, had already spun around before the question had ended.

"Nothing, I think Gladio just dropped his book."

"You think?"

"Well he's fallen asleep and I can't see his book so I guess that's what happened."

"What are you guys talking about?" Noctis asked as he woke up.

"Ahh. Look who's awake." Prompto said jokingly, Noctis' penchant for napping was a common source of jokes among the group. "We were just wondering what that thud was, but I think Gladio just dropped his book."

"You're probably right there Prom." Noctis said as he noticed Gladio's book lying on the floor of the car and leant over to pick it up. He placed the book on the seat next to his friend as he noticed something else, beads of sweat on the big guy's forehead. Noctis couldn't quite understand how Gladio could be sweating, the roof of the Regalia was down and evening was setting in.

"Are you guys hot?" Noctis asked the two men in the front of the car.

"No. Are you Noct?" Ignis asked with a concerned tone.

"No, Gladio's sweating and I wasn't sure if I was just cold."

"Sweating? Hmm?" Ignis questioned as he looked at his friend in the rear-view mirror. "Does he look pale to you?" He asked, half turning to Prompto who was moving to face the back seat. Prompto, of course, hadn't noticed Gladio looking pale when he'd turned around a minute prior, but Ignis' senses were highly attuned to his friends' well-being.

"Umm...Not really, but what do I know?" Prompto replied, not sure if that was the answer he should have given. Ignis said nothing but looked back in the rear-view mirror, he wasn't entirely content with Prompto's answer but he thought it best to leave the matter alone for now. Noctis had other ideas as he leant across and put a hand on his friend's forehead, it was an action that felt pretty alien to him but he was glad he'd done it.

Noctis leant forward in between the two front seats "I don't know about pale but he's definitely warm."

"Well we're not far from a campsite should we set up for the night before heading to Hammerhead in the morning?" Ignis phrased this like a question but the other two knew that was merely a formality and they had no say in the matter.

"Sure." Noctis replied, the answer too was just a formality, he then leant back in his seat looking at his friend. "Should we wake him up?"

"No need. Not until we reach the camp that is." Ignis replied as he took a turn in the road plotting a mental path in his head to the nearest campsite. After several silent minutes of driving Ignis pulled into the side of the road, the campsite was only two hundred or so yards away.

Noctis went to wake Gladio but the halt of the engine had already seemed to cause him to stir, and he turned to Noctis who was the only member left in the car "We at Hammerhead already?" Gladio asked when he realised the group had come to a stop, but before realising they were in the middle of nowhere.

"No, we've stopped for camp." Noctis said as he gestured a nod towards Ignis and Prompto who were getting the supplies out of the trunk. "Are you ok?"

"Who me, I'm fine" Gladio scoffed as he got out of the car and went to help with the unpacking of supplies.

"That's where we're inclined to disagree with you." Ignis said gently pushing the larger man away from the car.

"Oh yeah, and why would that be?" Gladio said as he tried re-approaching the car.

"Well according to his Highness, you have a fever."

"Well according to  _me_  I'm fine." Gladio snapped as he picked up the tents and headed off towards the campsite.

Noctis placed a hand on his advisor's shoulder "Ignore him, Iggy, you know what he's like, he thinks just because he's strong he can't be sick."

"Hey, can we go set up the camp now, then Iggy can make dinner." Prompto interjected picking up his share of the supplies, or maybe a little less than his share.

Ignis closed the trunk and locked the regalia as the three followed Gladio's path towards the camp. The three closed the distance faster than they were expecting, in fact, they found themselves overtaking the member with the longest strides.

Prompto turned to the trailing bodyguard "You sure you're ok Gladdy?"

"I'm fine, still waking up is all." Gladio was glad they were heading to the camp so he could set about putting up the tents and be left alone. However, while they were still more than fifty yards away Gladio found himself dropping the tents and bracing himself with his hands on his knees, it took no time for the others to be at his side.

"You ok big guy?" Noctis asked as he helped his friend into a more upright position.

"I'm fine Noct." Gladio failed to convince anyone but placed a reassuring hand on the prince's shoulder before going to pick up the dropped tents. As he leant over he wasn't sure he'd be able to stand back up, for a second everything spun and he dropped to one knee.

"Yeah, you're really fine." Prompto said as he picked up some of the dropped things making up for his light load from the car, as he did so Noctis and Ignis helped their friend to his feet.

"Noct, why don't you help Prompto take the supplies to the campsite, I'll help Gladio."

"The hell you will." Gladio barked as he shook off his friend's hands from his arm.

"Do you plan on collapsing all the way to the campsite?" Ignis tried to reason with his friend as he collected the last of the things and began to follow in the direction of the two younger men.

"I'll be fine." Gladio snarled as he started off in the same direction, Ignis waited for him and slowed down to his pace walking beside him ready to intervene if necessary. A few moments later they reached the campsite where Prompto and Noctis had set up the chairs and begun to assemble the tent.

"What are you guys doing?" Gladio's deep voice called across to them, he always set up the tent and he didn't take too kindly to people doing his tasks.

"You didn't think you'd be building the tent?" Ignis said with his patented blend of firmness and caring. Before Gladio could say that yes, he did indeed think that, Ignis had set his friend into one of the canvas chairs around what would soon be the campfire. Ignis placed his hand on his friend's forehead and was saddened to find that Noctis' statement that Gladio was warm was an understatement, he was burning up.

Gladio swatted away his friend's hand "Watch it, Iggy your hands are pretty useful I wouldn't want to break one of them." Just then the tent crew arrived and sat down on the other chairs they'd set up.

"Say, Noct suppose you could start a fire, it's getting quite dark." Ignis asked so the prince took some wood and roughly arranged the logs on the floor, one quick fire spell and the fire was burning nicely.

"I'm so hungry." Prompto complained, he acted as though the complaint wasn't directed at anyone in particular but he shot Ignis a very telling look as he whined. Ignis went to start making dinner but not before handing Gladio a bottle of water and once again checking his temperature, no attempt to swat his hand away was made this time. Instead, Gladio just looked up at his friend "You don't need to baby me, Iggy."

"I'd hardly call this babying Gladio. You're burning up, I don't like this."

"I'll be fine, it's probably one of those twenty-four-hour things. Some food and a good night's sleep and I'll be right as rain." Ignis realised that was the closest to an admission of weakness he was going to get so he went over to his cooking station as the others sat around the campfire.

Noctis and Prompto were talking amongst themselves deciding it was best to leave Gladio be that was until they heard a drop and a splash, they looked over to see that the noise was caused by the open water bottle hitting the floor, their friend slouched forward with his head between his knees.

Prompto was the first at his side shaking him by the shoulder "Gladdy, are you ok?" No reply, "A yes would be nice." By this point, Ignis had noticed the situation and quickly taken the pot of stew off the boil and had come to join his friends. He knelt in front his friend and shook him a little more forcefully than Prompto had attempted "Gladio!" This time they received a response in the form of Gladio's head lifting a few inches, with this Noctis gently pushed his friend into a sitting position. Gladio's eyes fluttered open, their amber colour clearly stood out against his pallid skin. Ignis, for a third time, gently placed his hand against the clammy forehead of his friend, he was even hotter than before, worryingly hot.

"You gave me a fright there big guy." Noctis said as he passed a new bottle of water to the man in the chair.

"Sorry. I just need some air." Gladio replied drinking almost the whole bottle without taking a breath.

"We're outside." Prompto replied unsure whether to be confused or concerned.

"I mean away from the fire." Slowly Gladio rose to his feet and took a few steps before he began to wobble. Noctis, who was closest, put one arm around his friend trying to brace him, but the second the prince's hand landed on Gladio's side the older gentlemen let out a wince and wasted no time in recoiling away from the contact. Immediately Ignis pulled back the flap of Gladio's shirt and all three men looked shocked, there was a painful looking laceration just below his ribs.

"Gladio, when did this happen?" Ignis asked his tone somewhere between anger and fear.

"I don't know. Could have been the Sabertusks, could have been the Garulas, we get into a lot of fights I can't keep track of every cut I get." Gladio replied with increasingly ragged breath.

"Well, it's obviously infected." Before Ignis could finish that sentence Gladio had begun falling to the floor. Usually if any of the others fell, Gladio was the one to catch them, which was rather easy, however, none of them managed to catch him and he landed on the floor with such force that it was painful to watch.

For a few seconds, they stood there in shock at a loss for what to do before Ignis remembered he'd been trained for situations exactly like this, only all those hypotheticals featured Noctis as the injured party. He quickly knelt beside Gladio and turned him onto his back, he noticed a cut on the man's head, nothing compared to the one on his side but he still wanted to bandage it before moving onto the bigger issue. He instructed Noctis to fetch the first aid kit and turned to give Prompto some instruction when he noticed the youngest of the group returning with blankets and pillows, Ignis was pleasantly surprised with the initiative and gently lifted Gladio's head allowing Prompto to place a pillow underneath.

Noctis returned with the first aid kit and Ignis quickly cleaned and bandaged the head wound, making sure that this would _not_ , under any circumstances, become infected. He then took another bandage and poured some water on it, after wringing some of the excess water out he placed it on Gladio's forehead hoping this would do some help in bringing down the fever. He then turned his attention to the cut that was plainly the cause of all of this. He lifted Gladio's shirt and begun to clean the wound, the big guy left out a few mild winces but didn't quite wake completely.

"That doesn't look so good." Prompto said as he sat down with Noctis and watched Ignis tend to the situation.

"I'm afraid it isn't." Ignis replied as he applied a bandage to the freshly cleaned wound. He then opened the first aid kit and looked for something to help, he pulled out an antidote, and turned to Noctis "Could you try sitting him up for me there Noct?"

Noctis knelt behind Gladio and gently lifted him by the shoulders moving him into an upright position with Gladio leaning against Noctis' trunk to remain upright. It was then that Noctis truly felt how badly his friend was burning up, he was warm earlier but this was something else, he shot a concerned look at Ignis who was opening the antidote bottle "You sure that'll work Iggy?"

"I can only hope, it's not as if we have any antibiotics to cure the infection." Ignis placed a hand under Gladio's chin as he carefully tipped back his head and brought the bottle to his lips. Ignis felt a brief wave of relief when he found Gladio easily accepting the elixir. "Ok, Noct lay him back down. Carefully now." Ignis placed another cold compress on his friend's forehead and returned to the dinner he had been cooking, trusting the other two to keep a watchful eye on Gladio's condition.

By now the sun had entirely set, Ignis continued with dinner and sent Prompto to retrieve some more firewood, Noctis stayed with Gladio changing the compress when he deemed it too warm to be effective. It wasn't even ten o'clock but the sombre tone made it feel as if it were the middle of the night. Almost fifteen minutes passed before Prompto returned with armfuls of firewood.

"You're back. I thought I was going to have start burning your clothes to keep the fire going." Noctis joked to his friend who put the wood on the floor before adding a few pieces to the fire and sitting down.

"I wasn't gone that long."

"It usually only takes five minutes when..." When Gladio does it, was how Noctis was planning on ending that sentence, but he thought better of it as he looked at his friend lying on the ground. "Should we get him inside the tent Iggy?"

"I shouldn't think so. Unless you believe you can carry him." With that Ignis approached with two bowls of stew handing one each to the younger men. After handing over the dinner he knelt beside Gladio and gently roused him, this proved easier than Ignis was worried it would.

"Iggy? What's going on?" Gladio asked raising a hand to his head where he found a bandage.

"I'm afraid you fainted." Ignis replied as he helped his friend up and into a seat, he then went over to his cooking station and returned with a further two bowls of stew one of which he handed to Gladio along with a potion. "Here drink this, it won't help with the infection but it should heal the wound."

"Thanks Iggy." Gladio said as he drank the potion and slowly began to eat his dinner, very slowly compared to the speed with which he usually inhaled his meals.

Prompto and Noctis took it upon themselves to talk and keep the tone around the campfire light, despite the fact that the whole party was physically and emotionally drained. Gladio had once again fallen asleep and Ignis was clearing up after dinner when Noctis called over to him. "Iggy, I think he's shivering," sweating one minute, shivering the next, Noctis was concerned to say the least. Ignis was quickly beside them and taking the older man's temperature. "His fever's broken." Ignis allowed himself to breathe properly for the first time since they parked. "That must mean the antidote was actually somewhat effective against the infection." As Ignis stood up straight he noticed Prompto returning to his side, not that he'd noticed Prompto leaving.

"I've put some extra blankets in his tent." Ignis really was pleased with Prompto's behaviour tonight, he must remember to say something later. Ignis and Noctis exchanged silent looks and both carefully stood Gladio up, who awoke as they did, and helped him over to his tent.

Noctis laid several blankets over his shivering bodyguard and gave him a light playful punch on his shoulder. "That's for scaring me. You know you're not allowed to die, unless it's because you took a bullet for me."

"I'll bear that in mind" Gladio said as he reached a muscular arm out ruffling the prince's hair and pushing him at the same time. At this Noctis wished his friend a good night and left to re-join Prompto at the campfire. Ignis once again took the big guys temperature, purely out of habit this time rather than being curious. "Get a good night's rest Gladio" Ignis said tenderly as he left but before he shut the tent flap he turned to his friend. "And don't think we shan't be talking about your decision to keep being mauled a secret."

As the tent shut Gladio let out a chuckle and allowed sleep to claim him, feeling a sense of warmth from the care his friends had shown him that night.

 


	2. Blind Rage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spoiler Warning Chapter 9+
> 
> Ignis is struggling with his new challenges and how they might affect his duty to the Prince.

The four walked along in almost near silence, with the only noises coming from the ground shuffling beneath their feet and the odd instruction Gladio whispered behind him to keep them safe from nearby monsters. There was one other noise, almost unnoticeable to the rest of the world but deafening to the four, it was the sound of Ignis’ cane hitting the ground as he followed his friends. To them, each small tap rang out through the wilderness louder than anything they could imagine, but they did their best to ignore it as they pressed onwards.

Gladio steered the group around a boulder and instructed the team to follow him, all they had to do was quickly run over the ridge and they’d be safe at the campsite, there wasn’t much time, it was almost dark. On Gladio’s signal they all began to run, then they heard something behind them all hoping they were mistaken, but as they turned around their worst fears were realised, Ignis was on the ground his hand appeared to be sliced open by a small rock. Even worse was that the noise of his fall attracted a pack of Voretooths and they wasted no time in charging at the fallen advisor.

Ignis was on the ground trying his best to stand while ignoring the painful warmth of the cut on his hand when he felt himself being pulled by the shoulder, next thing he knew he was being pushed against a boulder.

“You stay here, ok Iggy.” It was Prompto who had pulled him out of the way, just in time too. Then the gunner summoned his faithful pistols and ran to join the fray. Noctis and Gladio had summoned their weapons, a Storm Lance and Greatsword respectively. Noctis phased to attack the farther enemies while Gladio swung his blade to take out the closer ones, when Prompto arrived he wasted no time in picking off the remaining beasts and between the three the enemies were soon bested.

Noctis went to where Prompto had left Ignis who looked as if he was in shock, he placed a gentle hand on his friend's shoulder making sure not to startle him too badly. “You ok there Iggy.”

“Quite alright Noct.” Noctis didn’t believe him but he didn’t want to press this too much, not here anyway.

“Ok, well we’re almost at the camp, come on.” With that the gang quickly managed to get to the campsite, Prompto came up to Ignis and tended to his wounded hand. He cleaned the cut and bandaged it before placing a potion in Ignis’ hand. “There you go Iggy, drink up.”

“Thank you.” Ignis replied as he drank the restorative, his voice sounded shakier than anyone was used to hearing.

“You sure you’re alright Iggy.” Noctis asked concerned for his friend, at first he was worried Ignis had sustained more injuries when he fell.

“I must apologise that I was of no help in the fight.”

“It’s ok Iggy, you can’t do everything.” Prompto’s cheerful voice interject, he was met with Ignis snapping so suddenly that the group almost took a step back.

“Don’t you understand, I can’t do anything. I can’t cook, I can’t drive, I can’t fight. But worst of all I can’t keep you all safe, if it weren’t for me you never would have been in that fight just now. My one job is to keep you safe Noct and I’ve failed you.” Noctis, who had been racked with guilt since Ignis had been injured, couldn’t express how much remorse he felt in this moment, he reached out to hold his friend but thought better of it.

“No you haven’t, if it wasn’t for you I doubt I’d be stood here right now, I doubt any of us would. If that’s failing I don’t know what a success would be.”

“I told myself I could do this, even with my limitations but I put you in danger, that is completely unforgivable.” Ignis voice cracked slightly giving the impression he was about to cry, Prompto wasn’t sure if Ignis was even capable of crying but not wanting to find out, threw one arm around his shoulders.

“It’s ok Iggy, we don’t even know if this is forever, there’s still a chance you could get better.” Prompto’s optimism was endearing but unfortunately Ignis was in no position to be cheered up.

“There isn’t. I think it’s safe to say that I shall never see again. Which unfortunately means I can’t keep you safe, and if something happens to any of you because I’m unable to help then…” It was at this point the first tear fell, but after the first escaped they were impossible to halt. Ignis was unable to compose himself, the tears streamed, they were hot and burned at the scars around his eyes, overcome he felt himself falling when he felt two strong hands grabbing his arms holding preventing him from hitting the ground. Gladio, who had remained silent so far, stood his friend up but did not let go.

“Shut up Iggy. If anything happens to us it’s because we’re idiots, so if you even dare think of blaming yourself…Well, don’t because we’ll be fine.” To outsiders, his gruff tone would have sounded less than compassionate but to Ignis the words were sweeter than he was expecting.

As the tears slowed, not stop entirely but cease to be quite the torrent they were before, Noctis replaced Gladio’s hands with his own and pulled his friend into an embrace. Ignis, being the taller of the two, dropped his head to Noctis’ shoulder and, against his better judgement, allowed himself to sob into his friend. Noctis held his friend, unable to understand the pain he felt, they stood there for what could have been thirty seconds or thirty minutes, Noctis wasn’t keeping track of time he just wanted to do whatever small part he could do to fix his friend.


	3. Speeding Bullets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magitek Troopers always ruin the day, but this time their visit is worse than usual when one of the gang finds a bullet lodged in their side.

Hunting. It was an activity that the four all had different feelings towards, to Ignis it was a necessity, it put food on the table both literally and in the sense that many hunts paid generous amounts of Gil. For Gladio, hunting was when he felt truly comfortable, utilising his survival skills for stalking his prey and his almost superhuman strength for taking it down. Prompto often took the hunts as an opportunity to spend time with his favourite people as well as getting some good shots of the creatures and their surroundings. To Noctis, hunting was something he did because Ignis and Gladio said so, he’d much rather be fishing.

“Gla…” Noctis opened his mouth to ask if they were any closer to finding their target, but was quickly silenced by Gladio who gestured up ahead at the Garulessa they were here to take down. Upon seeing the creature, the four all summoned their weapons and prepared to strike, the group silently looked to Noctis to know when to attack, they had been in this position so many times before that Noctis did not even need to say anything, the second he moved the group moved with him and the onslaught began. 

Prompto shot at the monster almost acting as a distraction, this allowed for Gladio to get close and attack the leg of the beast in some attempt to prevent it from charging at any one of the group. Ignis and Gladio continued to swing blades and daggers at the monster deftly evading all attacks the monster attempted, all the meanwhile Prompto was unrelenting at shooting the beast. Noctis warped above the creature and brought down an axe dealing the critical blow which took the monster out once and for all.

“Textbook performance Noct.” Ignis said with a smile as he dismissed his weapons and took out two bags which he unfurled ready to carry the meat for transportation.

“Thanks, you need a hand carving that thing. I mean, it _is_ huge.”

“That won’t be necessary Noct. Thank you anyway but I believe Gladio and I have got this covered.”

“Yeah, you and Prom just keep an eye out Ok.” Gladio added as he began to slice the fur and skin off the large animal, revealing the fine meat which he and Ignis began to carve. There was plenty to take back to claim their reward and for Ignis to cook some heavenly Garulessa steaks for dinner.

After twenty minutes both bags were filled with generous amounts of meat both of which Gladio slung over his shoulder, noting that given how much they had carved there should be a lot less Garulessa on the ground in front of them.

"I don't fear it will go to waste but we have more than we need." Ignis replied as he wiped his hands clean, and headed off in the direction of the diner where they were to deliver the meat, the others quickly followed suit.

For five minutes the friends happily walked on, only stopping twice to locate where Prompto had run off to in order to take a nice photograph. However, the second time to group paused to wait for their friend Ignis ears pricked at the sound of a faint hum that was approaching them, he looked to the sky and there it was.

“Imperial dropship!” He yelled to the others and in less than half a second the group were all brandishing their weapons ready for the Magitek Troopers that were descending from the ship to attack the group. Noctis looked at the enemies as they landed and quickly tried to decide what to do.

“Gladio! Try and get behind them and attack them from that side.” At Noctis’ instruction Gladio summoned his large shield and barrelled through the lines of soldiers, when he broke through their formation his shield changed into his trusty Greatsword and he began to attack.

On the other side of the troops Noctis, Ignis and Prompto were picking off the Imperials one by one. They were like a well-oiled machine, each swipe and shot hitting its mark, the three moved passed one another to reach their target so nimbly that it was almost as if their fight were beautifully choreographed.

They were nearing the end of the battle when a second dropship arrived deploying another wave of Magitek Troopers, much to the dismay of the group who now had to make their energy stretch further than they had expected. Noctis focused his energy, raised his hand and released a blizzard at the remaining troops from the first wave.

“Hey watch it!” Gladio shouted to Noctis as the edges of the blizzard hit him and his compatriots, the spell proved effective though as the cold made the machines seize allowing them to be easily taken out. The second wave was right behind them, there was no time to strategize, the four just gave into their instincts, their muscle memory engaged from so many fights against the empire before.

Blades and bullets hit the metal troops, who in turn returned fire of their own, each man stepping, ducking and warping out of the path of the enemy ammunition. There were few enemies left but the Prince and his entourage were beginning to tire but their offence did not falter, their speed in reacting however did. Bullets rang out constantly, it was the score of the fight but one shot was met with a scream.

Being shot wasn’t at all how Prompto had anticipated, initially, the pain wasn’t sharp it wasn’t piercing it was as if he had been punched in the stomach, as if a large flat fist had struck him to the left of his navel and the shockwaves resonated through every fibre of his being. It wasn’t until his senses caught up with the situation that he felt as if he was being ripped open and he felt every cell of every tissue in the bullet's path be torn apart. It was such an intense shearing pain that it was almost cold until the blood started to pour creating such an intense heat it was almost as if the friction of the bullet had ignited a fire within the wound. It could only have taken a second for the bullet to pierce him but Prompto felt as if he stood in that moment for an eternity constantly replaying the pain of the shot, it wasn’t until the hundredth repeat that a scream escaped his lips.

The three uninjured men all turned in the direction of the scream where they noticed Prompto stood there unmoving, almost lifeless, neither allowed themselves to look too long and quickly dispatched of the last enemies before running to join their friend.

“Prom, what happened?” Noctis tried to shake his friend back to the present moment and was met with Prompto’s shiny blue eyes and classic smile but no words immediately.

“Oh.” Gladio said in his gruff tone as he pointed to a blood red hole in the gunman’s shirt.

“Prompto! You got shot…Prompto!” Noctis continued to shake his friend trying to illicit some sort of response all he got in return were some unintelligible words and Prompto becoming a dead weight falling into the prince’s shoulder.

“Gladio.” Was all Ignis said as he took the bags from the bodyguard’s hands, it was all he had to say, Gladio understood completely. He hoisted the injured man onto his shoulder feeling the warm sticky blood seep into his shirt as he carried him on the way towards the camp.

When they reached the haven Ignis instructed Gladio to set Prompto down which he did carefully as not to cause the young blond any more pain, Noctis set himself down next to Prompto and stared at Ignis with such a pained expression it was almost as if he had been shot himself.

“He’s going to be Ok right Iggy?” Noctis asked as he took his friend’s hand and watched Ignis retrieve the first aid kit.

“I certainly hope so Noct. First thing’s first, roll him onto his side for me.” Noctis placed one arm around the man on the ground and gently rolled him so that Prompto was facing him. Ignis lifted the back of the young man’s shirt and a worried look took hold of his face.

“What is it, Iggy?” Noctis asked as Ignis took Prompto from his hands and rolled him back to a supine position.

“I’m afraid the bullet did not pierce all the way through.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means he’s gotta take the bullet out.” Gladio added as he knelt by Prompto’s head.

“I’m afraid so, do you think you could hold him still Gladio?”

“I can try.” The large man said as he moved to place one large forearm across the young man’s shoulders and placed his right hand on Prompto’s left hip just a few inches below the bullet hole. Gladio’s knuckles turned white as he clenched them at the site of Ignis removing a long pair of forceps from the first aid kit. Noctis felt lost as to what to do so he shifted to pin down Prompto’s legs, hoping that might help.

Ignis gave the two men a silent nod and pushed the forceps in the open wound. The second the metal hit his skin Prompto began to write on the ground, luckily Gladio was strong enough to keep him moving too much and causing himself any more harm. Ignis was almost in pain himself as he moved the tool within his friend trying to find the bullet. Then he heard the familiar noise of metal on metal and he knew he’d found the bullet, in as neat of a motion as he could manage Ignis opened the forceps, moved them down, had hold of the foreign object and quickly removed it.

In what Noctis saw only as a flurry of arms, Ignis had discarded the bloodied forceps and retrieved a bandage which he handed to Gladio instructing him to hold it in place with as much pressure as he felt the young man could handle. Gladio obliged as Ignis held a potion to Prompto’s lips and emptied the contents into his throat. Noctis sat there feeling almost entirely useless, he sat there absorbed in the thought that he could lose his best friend, then he heard a faint noise.

“Noct!” Ignis called for the third time, this instance Noctis heard and looked at his advisor.

“Noct, I need you to wake him up, keep him talking.” Noctis was not about to question Ignis’ when it came down to caring for his friends so he quickly ran around Gladio and sat by Prompto’s side and shook him until he woke up.

“Noct?” Prompto replied in a strained voice which slowly turned into a chuckle.

“What are you laughing at?” Noctis asked, almost angry that his friend wasn’t taken this potentially fatal situation as seriously as he should be.

“Just funny when you think about it. The gunman getting the shot. Besides if any one of us was going to get shot you’d think it’d be Gladio, I mean he’s a much bigger target.”

“Hey, I heard that.” Gladio said as he checked the flow of the blood from the wound, it was time for Ignis to clean and bandage him up.

“This may sting a bit.” Ignis said as he poured some water on the bullet hole before applying a fresh bandage. As he did so Prompto uttered a string of almost curse words.

“I think you and I have different definitions of a bit Iggy.”

“My apologies. How are you feeling?”

“I’m…Ok.” All the energy that had been in his voice initially was beginning to fade.

“Keep him awake Noct, he’s lost a lot of blood. Here give him this.” Ignis said quickly handing over a second potion. Which Noctis administered to Prompto in much the same way Ignis had the first.

“Drink up Prom. And just so you know when you’re better you’re in serious trouble for scaring me like this. Also, Gladio might get you for that ‘bigger target’ comment”

“You’re damn right.” Gladio replied with a smirk as he wiped the blood from his hands and changed into a fresh shirt.

“Nah I’ll be fine, Gladio never follows through with his threats, he loves me too much” Prompto shot back as the group all laughed knowing he wasn’t wrong. In an attempt to keep Prompto awake and alert, Noctis fetched the former's camera and got him to talk through the history behind each one however self-explanatory. Noctis felt guilt making him talk so much, his breath was shallower than usual and you could tell he was fighting through the pain to get all of the words out, but Noctis’ guilt was appeased by knowing this what needed to be done.

 As the two younger men talked about Prompto’s snapshots Ignis decided dinner was in order, he instructed Gladio to take to take one of the bags of Garulessa meat to the diner in order to collect the reward and return with a few more potions, they had only one left and Ignis intended on using that on Prompto in five minutes or so.

“Ok, I’ll be back soon, take care of him, Iggy.” Gladio said as he picked up one of the bags and began to leave in the direction of the diner not really wanting to leave his friend in this condition but he knew he was of more use making the delivery than trying to take care of anyone.

As Gladio was by himself the round trip didn’t take long, between his long strides and not being distracted by anyone he was back at the camp in less than half an hour where he was glad to see Prompto was sat in a chair and was more alert than when he left. The big guy walked over to where Ignis was cooking and handed over a bag of supplies, a few potions and some more food.

“Thank you Gladio. Run into any trouble on the way.” Ignis asked as he flipped the steaks in the pan.

“Nah, smooth sailing the whole way. He looks better.” Gladio remarked nodding in the direction of the campfire.

“Yes, I think he’ll make quite the recovery. Why don’t you go and join them, dinner won’t be for a while.”

“I was hoping you’d be done when I got back, you’re killing me, Iggy.” Gladio laughed as he went to sit by the campfire. As he approached the younger two he noticed them sharing glances and laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Gladio inquired as he took a seat. As a reply, Noctis picked up Prompto’s camera and clicked a few buttons turning the screen to Gladio.

“Look what I found when we were going through Prom’s camera.” The photo was unflattering, to say the least, it was Gladio lying on a non-descript bed, however, he’d somehow managed to move to a position where both legs were hanging off different edges of the bed with the corner between them. He’d also managed to lose his sheet so he was laying there in nothing but shorts, and when you’re as tall as Gladio shorts are very short but worst of all was the dark patch on the light blue sheet around his mouth.

“I didn’t know you drooled big guy.” Noctis said unable to contain his laughter.

“Where did you take that?”

“I think it was last time we were in Lestallum.” Prompto replied with a grin, he was definitely feeling better.

“If I didn’t feel so sorry for you I’d smash that stupid camera.”

“See I told you he loves me too much.”

 

 


	4. Intoxication

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was a prompt from Shiary, all credit for the story goes to them.  
> This story features Noctis and Prompto sneaking out to drink.

Ignis parked the car and pressed a button to make the roof go up, he turned to his friends and realised that Gladio and Prompto had followed Noctis’ example and had fallen asleep on the way there.

“Lestallum, here we are.” Ignis said in an attempt to wake up the group, all of whom got up and out of the car at varying speeds.

“Thank gods, I need to stretch my legs.” Gladio replied playfully shoving Prompto as payback for moving his seat back. Prompto tried to return the push but Gladio stood firm.

“I’m starving.” Noctis said as he finally exited the Regalia and joined his friends.

“Well I think it best we secure our accommodation for the evening first. Dinner can be easily dealt with later.” Ignis said and started walking in the direction of the Leville Hotel, their usually resting place when visiting the city.

Ignis paid at the desk and the four took their belongings up to the double room on the 3rd floor. Ignis placed his things down gently while the other three took it upon themselves to strew their things all around the room with Ignis following behind the prince in an attempt to clear up slightly.

“When the clerk said make yourself at home, I doubt this is what he meant Noct.” The prince just laughed in response.

“So, Iggy, we’ve sorted out our room, now how’s about dinner?” Prompto asked almost bounding over to the advisor.

“Well first I must go shopping for some ingredients I’m missing. I shall set about cooking dinner when I return.”

“Aww man, come on Iggy.”

“I’m sorry Prompto, but unless you think the three steaks we have left will be enough to feed the four of us I must go shopping.”

“Three steaks won’t even feed Gladio.” Prompto whined as he spun and fell on one of the beds. Gladio went to say something but realised he would be lying if he were to disagree.

“Then it’s settled, I shall head to the market and you can survive until I get back.” Ignis’ remark elicited a chuckle from the young blond. With that Ignis picked up one of the room keys on the table and left to the market. Noctis flopped down on the bed next to Prompto and begun playing a game of Triple Triad on his phone. On the other side of the room Gladio was digging through his bag, he removed a clean outfit, almost identical to the one he was wearing just with a tank top instead of the button shirt he was currently removing exposing the large bird tattoo on his back.

“I’m gonna have a shower. I assume you guys can take care of yourselves for ten minutes.”

“I think we can manage Gladio. But the second it rolls into eleven minutes we might start to struggle.” Noctis retorted, laughing at the notion that Gladio thought they could get into trouble in a hotel room. Gladio shut the bathroom door and the younger two laid on the bed in silence for a few minutes before Noctis turned to Prompto.

“I’m starving, let’s go get something to eat.”

“But Iggy…”

“Iggy has to get back before he can even start making dinner. I’m not saying we go have a feast but just some ice cream or something. Anything to tide us over.”

“Ok, and how do you suppose we pay for this ice cream, Iggy took the money with him.” At that Noctis took a pouch of his pocket, Prompto snatched it from him opening it to reveal the Gil within.

“Where did you get this?”

“I am the Prince after all.” Noctis said with a smirk as he reclaimed the pouch of money. “So, ice cream?”

“Ice cream it is. Should we tell Gladio.”

“Only one of two things will happen if you do that, either he’ll stop us or we’ll have to get him ice cream too.”

 “Good point.” Prompto replied as he followed Noctis through the door and quietly shut it behind him.

**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**

“I love ice cream!” Prompto proclaimed as he skipped ahead of Noctis eating his frozen treat.

“It is pretty good.” Noctis watched Prompto take out his camera and he took an ice cream selfie of the two of them.

“You look good in this one Noct.”

“Of course I do.” Noctis replied smugly as he stopped dead to avoid walking into a group of people who were exiting the bar next to them. The group stepped around the prince and his friend as they continued their laughter filled conversation. With that Noctis looked at Prompto.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“If you’re thinking that she was really pretty, yes I am.” Prompto said as he watched one of the women in the group walk off, her long legs accentuated by her stiletto heels.

“No. I was thinking we should go for a drink.”

“Are you sure, shouldn’t we be getting back?”

“Oh, come on Prom, we deserve a drink or two, we have no kingdom, we have to fight monsters all the time. Let your hair down.”

“My hair doesn’t go down Noct, too much hairspray.” Prompto laughed as he threw one arm around the prince and they both filed into the bar and took two seats at the bar.

“Two beers please.” Noctis asked the bartender placing the Gil on the counter. The man behind the counter took the money wanting to comment on Noctis’ striking resemblance to the prince of Lucis but thought better of it and placed the two glasses in front of the two men. Prompto and Noctis lifted their glasses to one another and then drank, Prompto must have drunk half his drink in one but when he looked at Noctis his friend was still going almost drinking his whole drink without stopping to breathe.

“Take it easy there Noct.”

“Sorry, I forgot how good a nice cold beer was.” Prompto nodded in agreement as he watched Noctis take out some more Gil ready for another round. “Another one can’t hurt.”

**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**

Ignis unlocked the door to their room with the paper grocery bags in his arm, as he shut the door behind him he noticed the room was empty, he could hear someone moving around in the bathroom but he doubted the three of them were all in there together.

“Hello?” Ignis asked into the empty room and he saw the handle of the bathroom door turn, the door opened to reveal Gladio messily drying his hair with a towel.

“Oh, hey there Iggy.”

“Where are the others?”

“They’re right… there.” Gladio said as he turned to point to the bed Noctis and Prompto had been on when he went for his shower and realising that the bed was empty. “Or maybe they’re not.”

“Thank you for that Gladio, thank you so much for telling me where they’re not. If you could please keep listing all of the places they aren’t and eventually we’ll have an answer.”

“Cool it Iggy, they probably went to have a look around.” Ignis reminded himself they were in the city, they were safe from attacks and even Noctis and Prompto could keep out of trouble in Lestallum.

“You’re quite right Gladio. I shall make a start on dinner, if they aren’t back by the time it’s ready you’re coming with me to find them.”

“Sounds fair to me.” Gladio replied as he carried the bags of groceries to the small kitchen in their hotel room.

**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**

Noctis hand hit the bar a little more forcefully than he had intended, he apologised to the bartender as he moved his hand revealing more Gil.

“Two more?” The bartender asked the two young men standing at the bar. Noctis looked at Prompto and a smile washed over his face.

“No I think this time we’ll have some shots.”

“Shots!” Prompto echoed as he lifted his arms in the air almost pushing himself of his barstool but quickly grabbed the edge of the bar to steady himself.

“You Ok there Prom?” Noctis asked as he took the tray of small glasses and moved to a table with lower and more importantly comfier chairs.

“I’m great Noct.” Prompto giddily replied as he followed Noctis to the table, but no sooner had he sat down he shot back up with an excited look in his eyes. Before Noctis could ask what was going on Prompto had run to the corner of the bar where a Chocobo pinball machine stood. Noctis laughed as his friend played the game and drank his half of the shots, and then a few more. When Prompto returned having beaten the game there were only two shots left on the tray.

“Hey where did all my drinks go?” He joked lightly punching Noctis on the arm.

“I’ll get you another beer to make up for it.”

“Thank you.” Prompto said with a laugh as he pulled Noctis out of his chair so he could do just that, Noctis lightly stumbled but regained his composure and a minute later returned with two more large beers.

**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**

“Smells good Iggy.” Gladio commented as he entered the kitchen were Iggy was putting his culinary skills to good use.

“Thank you Gladio. It’s almost ready which means…”

“Let’s go, the sooner we find ‘em the sooner I can eat.”

“And the sooner we’ll be assured they’re safe.” Ignis said raising an eyebrow and the tall man. With that he turned the heat of the stove off and placed a lid on the pot of stew, and both men left the hotel to go looking for the younger half of their group.

**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**

Noctis’ phone began to ring in his pocket but in his drunken state the noise startled him more at first than it really should have done.

“Prom. Prooom!” Noctis said whispering across the table to his friend who was too caught up in playing with the straw in his Cuban that he had inexplicably decided to order.

“What? Why are you whispering?”

“Ignis is calling me.”

“Oh gods, don’t let him know we’re drunk.” Noctis shot Prompto a look in disbelief that Prompto could even believe that he’d slip up, Noctis then cleared his throat and answered his phone.

“Ignis!” Noctis exclaimed with more authority and volume than he had intended, Prompto had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing.

*Noct. Where are you? Are you safe?*

“We’re quite alright Ignis, thank you for asking, how are you?”

*Noct, are you in a bar?* Noctis could hear Gladio say something in the background but couldn’t make out the words.

“Why would you even ask that?” Noctis asked feigning hurt in his voice.

*The fact that you’re both slurring and shouting was a giveaway, besides I just heard someone order a beer over the phone.*

“Ignis, listen to me.” Before Noctis could explain he felt a strong hand land on his shoulder, he looked up and his eyes met the calm amber of Gladio’s. To put it mildly, Gladio didn’t look impressed.

“Get up.” Gladio said with his trademark snarl. Prompto stumbled around the table to Gladio’s side and Noctis stood up before tripping over his own foot and falling into his bodyguard’s solid body. Gladio just set his head into his hand and mumbled something before hoisting the prince onto his shoulder, he turned to Prompto, the less inebriated of the two and settled with pulling him by the arm.

Noctis lifted his head and surveyed the reactions of the people in the bar who were watching him be carried out.

“Is this how you see everything, you’re so tall, and really strong.” Noctis said almost lovingly as he relaxed back into his bodyguard’s shoulder.

“I am tall, and strong, and better at holding my liquor. I hope you realise Iggy was terrified we’ve been looking for you guys for half an hour.” Before either man could respond they were out of the bar and face to face with Ignis himself.

“Gladio!” Ignis snapped. “It isn’t seemly for the prince to be carried through town.”

“Well his highness can barely walk so unless you can think of a way of sobering him up in the next thirty seconds this’ll have to do.”

**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**

Two cups of strong ebony coffee slammed onto the table in front of the two young men.

“Drink up.” Gladio said with a hint of laughter to his voice.

“I don’t really like coffee.”

“It wasn’t a request Noct.” Ignis remarked as he entered the room with two bowls of stew for which he set down next to the cups of coffee. With that both Noctis and Prompto began to drink their coffees with faces like those of children drinking medicine.

“We’re sorry Iggy.” Prompto added, his innocent smile doing much to diffuse Ignis’ displeasure at the drunk pair.

“It’s alright Prompto, you’re both safe that’s all that matters.” Ignis took a bowl of stew from Gladio who had just returned from the kitchen and took a seat. The advisor then raised an eyebrow and looked at the pair with a playful smile.

“Besides, I’m sure the hangover you’ll suffer tomorrow will be punishment enough.”

 

 

 


	5. Rescue Mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was another request from the wonderful Shiary in which I was asked to write a story where "Ardyn kidnaps Gladio and the group have to rescue him before it's too late"   
> This starts off in chapter 11 but I took a few creative liberties with how the game progresses from there. No major spoilers but if you haven't played chapter 9+ and want absolutely nothing spoiled for you then maybe this chapter isn't the best thing to read.  
> As always I hope you enjoy it and feel free to comment, be it good or bad (or not, I mean it's totally up to you)

“Noct!” Prompto was calling to him from the train, the train which had started to move one again. “Meet us in the engine room.”

Noctis took out the last two Magitek Troopers and warped onto the roof of the train, he began to run to the front where his friends were, but unsurprisingly more Armoured Axemen had to be dispatched en route. Finally, Noctis made it to the front end of the train and entered the engine room via the large whole the empire had blown in the wall. He gently lowered himself in, and looked at the people in the cabin, and saw one face he was less than happy to behold.

Ardyn, what was he doing here Noctis wanted to know but didn’t give himself the time to ask, instead he just summoned a weapon, this time a Bioblaster which he aimed at the chancellor and opened fire.  A second later Prompto was stumbling towards the gaping hole in the wall and Ardyn was stood beside the Prince. Noctis was taken back, what was happening, he’d shot Prompto, Ardyn must have tricked him. Ardyn who was inexplicably reaching out to Prompto and pulling him back from the edge he had very nearly fallen from.

Noctis didn’t think about this, all he could think about was his friend, his friend who he had just shot. The prince’s blood boiled with rage, an intense heat rising through him until it reached his hand where he one again pulled the trigger and shot Ardyn once again, this time sending him out of the train, sending Gladio out of the train.

“Gladio!” Noctis ran to where his friend had fallen and looked behind him, his shield was nowhere to be seen, he stumbled backwards almost as if he’d been shot himself.

“Noct! What’s going on?” Ignis asked trying to discern what had happened, unfortunately the two gunshots he’d heard had not provided him with enough information to clearly gauge the situation.

“I…I shot them. I shot both of them.” Noctis said on the verge of tears as he dropped besides Prompto who was clutching at the wound on his shoulder. Noctis moved the gunman’s hand and hit stomach turned at the sight of his friends punctured flesh, the experience worsened greatly by the knowledge that he had done this. “Iggy where’s the first aid kit?”

“I believe it is still in my seat.” Ignis replied with a sombre tone, he had more questions for Noctis but he could tell from the prince’s tone that there were more pressing matters at this instant. Noctis threw one of Prompto’s arms around his shoulder and helped his friend to his feet and the three began their return to their seats. Once they had left the engine room Noctis turned to one of the passengers and told him to keep the train moving.

They returned to the table they had been sat at previously and Noctis seated the injured Prompto, Ignis took hold of the first aid kit and passed a potion in their direction. Noctis took hold of the bottle and opened it before handing it to Prompto to drink.

“We’re gonna need an antidote to Iggy.” Noctis added, and his advisor immediately obliged handing over a second bottle.

“Why the antidote Noct?” Noctis opened the elixir for Prompto but struggled to get out the words he wanted.

“I shot him with the Bioblaster.” Prompto’s eyes shot open almost twice as wide as usually and he quickly whipped his neck to look at Noctis.

“Bioblaster?” At the sight of the look of shock in his friend’s eyes guilt rippled through Noctis and his head fell into his hands.

“I’m so sorry Prom. It was Ardyn, he tricked me. I know that’s no excuse but…” Noctis was interrupted by Prompto moving his hands out of the way and lifting up his chin so the two men were eye to eye.

“I forgave you the moment you pulled the trigger, I know you’d never hurt me on purpose, but it’s just, if you shot me with the Bioblaster, then…” Prompto couldn’t bring himself to finish that thought.

“Gladio.” Ignis said tightening his grip on his cane. The gunshot wound was one thing, they could all hope that Noctis had hit him in a less vital spot and Gladio had stopped the bleeding. What they couldn’t ignore was the poison that Noctis’ chosen weapon administered to its victims.   

“We have to get him, we’ve got to stop the train.” Noctis said as he started to run off in the direction of the engine room. Ignis’ voice reached him before he left the carriage, he stopped dead and painfully tore himself from the door and returned to their table.

“Noct. We can’t stop now, not here, we’d be putting all these people in danger, the risk of a daemon attack is too high. Regardless of that, if the chancellor is involved it’s doubtful Gladio is still there.” Noctis remembered he hadn’t seen Gladio seconds after he’d fallen from the train so the chances of him still being there were slim to none.

“We’re almost at Tenebrae, we should let the passengers alight there where they shall be safe then we can formulate a plan.” Ignis’ calm tone rang through the carriage as Noctis sullenly looked out of the window as Prompto got some well needed rest.

**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**

Gladio pulled what felt like the hundredth lever hoping that Ignis’ plan was going to work, he thanked the gods when he heard the familiar rumblings of the train engine restarting. In his relief, he gave Ignis a hearty slap on the back. “Good job Iggy, sharp as ever”

“Thank you Gladio. Where are the others?” Gladiolus walked over to hole the empire had blown in the wall and looked behind him, just as he looked he could see Noctis warping towards the train. Prompto wasn’t there so Gladio could only assume he’d already made it aboard safely. A minute later he was proven right by the young blond entering the engine room.

“Noct’s on his way.” Not long after Prompto had said that Noctis lowered himself through the hole in the wall and turned to face the trio, but the way he looked at Prompto was no way any of them had seen him before, his eyes practically glowed with rage. Without saying a word Noctis summoned a weapon and shot Prompto point blank who began stumbling and almost fell off the moving train.

Gladio rushed forward to catch his friend, but the second he took hold of him and brought him back into the room Noctis’ furious glare was turned to the older man and he once again pulled the trigger striking Gladio between the ribs and forcing him off the train. Gladio felt himself fall as the train ran away from him, then he felt himself hit the ground and everything went black.

When Gladio woke up he could barely move, at first, he thought this must be due to the fall but then he opened his eyes and looked around, he wasn’t on the ground besides the train tracks. He was in a small steel room and the reason he could not move was because he was in some sort of metal contraption that had him stood up but the only part of him that was free to move was his neck, then he noticed a figure in the corner.

Ardyn stepped forward into the light and brought a potion up to Gladio’s lips, Gladio turned from the elixir confused as to why Ardyn would bother to heal him.

“Come now. That bullet wound looks highly uncomfortable. Drink up and it shall be fixed.” Ardyn tried to persuade his prisoner to accept his help, Gladio stood fast for a moment before relenting and accepting the liquid.

“So, you’re _not_ gonna kill me?” Gladio snarled as he felt the potion begin its work healing up the hole in his ribs.

“Oh, no my dear boy I need his highness to come here to rescue you. He won’t do that if I tell him you’re dead.”

“You could lie to him. You already tricked him once right, that’s why he shot me and Prom. What’s stopping you from fooling him again.”

“There’s a fine line between trickery and deceit my good man, and that is a line I try not to cross.” Ardyn replied with a sly grin, and with that he left. As the door shut Gladio was left to think about his friends, about how Prompto was fairing, about how badly his head hurt right now.

**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**

 

“Tenebrae.” Ignis commented as the train came to a stop, Prompto awoke to help Noctis sweep the carriages clearing them of all civilians before re-joining Ignis to formulate a plan. Noctis looked to Ignis as Prompto saw him struggling to talk. “Ignis?”

“What is it Noct?” Ignis asked in reply, turning to face Noct, this was more out of respect than anything.

“It’s Gladio, how long has he got?”

“I can’t say for certain Noct.” Ignis tried to sound calm but Noctis felt like his advisor was being less than honest with him.

“Ignis, please, just tell me.”

“As I said, I can’t know for certain, however, without an antidote it’s likely he has less than a day.” Upon hearing this Noctis sank into a seat and ran a hand through his hair.

“So, what’s the plan?” Prompto asked, but instead of Noctis responding he merely stood up and walked past his friends.

“I’ll be back in a minute we can figure something out then, I just need some air.” Prompto went to follow him, concerned for his friend but was stopped by Ignis placing a hand on the young man’s shoulder and steering him towards a seat.

“Leave him be Prom, he just needs to clear his mind, guilt does not sit well with our prince.”

“He shouldn’t feel guilty, it’s not his fault, I told him as much.”

“It’s not just you he needs to hear that from I’m afraid.” Ignis said, the words almost catching in his throat thinking about his friend.

“He’s gonna be ok right, Iggy?”

“I surely hope so.” Just then Ignis’ head snapped to face the door where Noctis was running in frantically. Prompto leapt out of his seat and grabbed Noctis by the shoulders making sure he wasn’t hurt.

“Noct, are you Ok man?”

“Ardyn…Gladio…Gralea…” Noctis tried to tell the salient points in between breaths. After he had regained his composure he sat the two down and told the complete story of how Ardyn had appeared to him and explained that their friend was in Niflheim’s capital.

“Then we go to Gralea.” Ignis said firmly as he stood up and headed in the direction of the engine room, Prompto rose to follow, Noctis sat for a moment before speaking. “Wait we’re taking the train ourselves.”

Ignis spoke without turning. “Yes, it would be unwise to endanger anyone else as we travel through the snow, besides we cannot afford to waste any time.” The others knew he was right and they all set about heading for the capital. Noctis took their things into the engine room after which, Prompto disconnected the other carriages the thought being, the lighter the train the sooner they may be able to get there. Ignis gave the younger two men instructions on how to start the train and let them take control of the journey to the capital.

**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**

Gladio awoke to the empty steel room still restrained and he tried to think how long he’d been asleep, he hadn’t even remembered feeling tired to fall asleep in the first place. The headache he had had earlier was dwarfed by the immense pressure he now felt below his temples, unfortunately the headache wasn’t his only complaint, he also felt sick to his stomach and it felt as though all his organs were on fire. He instinctively went to hold his trunk in some attempt to ease the pain before he remembered his arms were being held, when he looked at his hand he realised that despite feeling like he was on fire he was shivering. He didn’t have much time to think of anything else before feverishly passing out once again.

**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**

“Try that one again Noct, I think I heard something last time.” Ignis was trying to guide the younger two on how to restart the train, they had run into a few issues where the train had frozen to a halt and been boarded by enemies. Luckily Prompto and Noctis had easily dispatched of the creatures but their attempts at firing up the train had been less fortunate, Noctis had even resorted to using a few fire spells to kick-start the engine.

Noctis quickly pulled the lever as Ignis had instructed and they all breathed a collective sigh of relief when they heard the sound of the wheels beginning to turn and Prompto retook his spot at the controls, neither of the men wanted to mention how much time they had wasted nor how long it would take to reach their destination. Noctis went to the back of the carriage and sat down to rest, the physical demands of his fight and his emotional distress over the situation meant that not long after he sat down he was asleep. Ignis had remained by the controls with Prompto, in part to offer any advice but also because he didn’t like to sit their feeling like an invalid.

“How do you think he is?” Prompto asked without turning from the controls.

“I should think he’ll be fine, once he’s rested and we’re at the capital.”

“No, Gladio, how do you think he is?”

“I don’t know Prom.”

“I mean you can’t know exactly how he is I get that, but you understand this poison stuff, so how do think he’s doing.”

“Prompto, I…I don’t…” Ignis struggled to speak, and was taken back when Prompto just slammed a fist against the control board of the train.

“I’m not a kid Iggy, I can handle it. Whatever you’re going to tell me has got be better than everything I’m imagining in my head. I know you and Noct have known Gladio longer but he’s my friend too, I can’t not know what’s going on.” Ignis couldn’t tell if Prompto was crying or not, it sounded like it but he wasn’t about to ask, instead he just placed a hand on his friends back.

“Well, at first it’ll feel like a very bad flu, headaches, chills and that sort of thing. Once the poison starts to me metabolised by his liver then he’ll go in to organ failure, that’s when it will really start to hurt.” Ignis’ ears pricked up as he heard Prompto take ragged breaths, he decided to stay silent and just gently patted his friend on the back and let him drive in peace. As Ignis moved away to give Prompto, the younger man’s wavering voice called to him. “Iggy, thank you…for being honest.” Ignis merely nodded in return and went to sit with the still sleeping Noctis.

Over an hour had gone by in silence when Prompto brought the train to a halt and came over to join Noctis and Ignis. “We’re here guys, we’re at Gralea.”

“Our best bet is to head to Zegnautus Keep. That is most likely to be where the Chancellor is holding Gladio.” Noctis stayed silent as he collected their things and headed to the hole in the wall where he jumped to the ground below.

“Noct, wait up.” Prompto called as he gestured to Ignis, feeling guilty as he did so, ever since Ignis had been injured Prompto had been the one defending Ignis’ ability to soldier on but here he was contradicting himself.

“There’s no time to wait.” Noctis added before running ahead leaving Prompto to guide Ignis off the train and to inform him of the direction they were headed, luckily Ignis had become quite adept at following his companions, and more fortunately by his estimations they were less than half an hour from Zegnautus Keep, even less at the speed with which Noctis was advancing.

**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**

Gladio barely woke, he stirred enough to hear sirens ringing through the compound, he stirred enough to know that he felt as if he were freezing whilst also feeling that every fibre of his being was on fire, he stirred enough to realise he was going to die. Then he lost consciousness once again, had he held out for five more minutes he would have been awake to see his friends burst through the door.

“Find the release button for this thing.” Noctis snapped as he and Prompto scoured the restraints for the switch to free their friend, Noctis’ fingers found it quickly and he immediately pressed it. As the grips of the machine opened, Gladio dropped to the ground, it was too sudden for someone to catch him and the sound of the collision reverberated all around the steel room.

Noctis turned the older man onto his back as Ignis knelt beside them and checked for a pulse, after thirty seconds of no answer Noctis couldn’t wait any longer. “Iggy, is he…?” Ignis would not allow him to finish that question.

“He has a pulse, however, it’s very weak I feel his organs have been failing for a few hours.” Ignis bit his lip and scrambled to find the first aid kit, he immediately administered a potion and antidote to Gladio before addressing the others.

“We cannot stay here, it’s too dangerous.” As he said this the younger too looked to their friend on the floor, you could barely see his chest rise and fall and he was worryingly pale.

“How do we get him out of here?” Noctis asked knowing full well if anyone of them were dying Gladio could easily carry them out of here as easily as carrying a bag but they weren’t capable of returning the favour as easily.

“I think there’s another exit at the end of the that corridor.” Prompto said gesturing with a nod of the head. “You take that arm I’ll take this one and we’ll go as slow as we have to.”

“How do you propose we get him to the train once we escape here?” Ignis asked in a tone that assured Prompto he was on board with this plan.

“It’s Niflheim, there has to be a car we can steal, there just has to be”

“So, you’re saying we steal a car?”

“Yes Noct, that’s exactly what I’m saying.” Noctis couldn’t recall a time Prompto had ever been so sharp with him, but he understood why and he respected that. “We can’t carry him there we both know that but we _have_ to get him away from here.”

Noctis didn’t even need to say anything he immediately sat Gladio up and put one of the man’s arms over his shoulder, Prompto did the same then without a word the both lifted the larger man to his feet, it was difficult but neither of them were about to complain. Ignis went ahead of them as he could walk faster and he relied on his friends to warn of any dangers ahead.

They made it out of the Keep without any problems and Prompto left the others in a secluded spot as he ran to quickly find a car. In under five minutes he’d returned with a car and helped Noctis place Gladio in the back seat, neither Noctis or Ignis decided to ask how Prompto had managed to hotwire the car they were just grateful he had done so as they made it back to the train in five minutes.

Ignis waited as the younger two moved Gladio into the engine room and laid him on the ground, as Noctis placed a pillow under his friends head he noted that his breathing seemed stronger, still painfully slow but Noctis could at least see Gladio’s chest rise and fall with each breath. The next think Noctis knew he was being handed another potion and a further antidote.

“Give him these.” Ignis said kneeling on the floor checking his friends pulse and temperature, trying to assess his condition, as both prince and advisor tended to their fallen friend Prompto started up the engine and sent it in the reverse direction to the one they had taken to get here.

“Prompto is taking us out of Niflheim that way we can get him some proper medical attention, I am not sure we have enough supplies to suffice.” Noctis nodded not thinking that Ignis could not take that as a reply, Ignis however did not comment on Noctis’ silence. For a while they both just sat there Noctis took one of Gladio’s hands and would not let go.

After twenty minutes Gladio began to shake, no not shake, shiver, Ignis calmed Noctis by saying this was a good thing it meant his body is reacting to the poison meaning his organs are registering signals. In short, he was responding to the curatives he’d been given. A further thirty minutes passed and the bodyguard feverishly stirred.

“Iris…Ir?” Noctis snapped out of his daydream and was quickly responding.

“No, it’s me, Noct.”

“No. Iris, tell her that…” Noctis stopped Gladio talking any further, he thought that best given how pained his friend seemed.

“Tell her yourself big guy.”

“But if I…” Noctis gripped his hand so tightly at the thought of what Gladio was going to say then.

“No, you’re not allowed to finish that sentence. You can’t die, I can’t have killed you.” As the words escaped his lips Noctis began to cry and fell into Gladio’s shoulder the older of the two men ruffled the prince’s hair before once again falling asleep.

**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**XV**

Gladio woke up feeling barely better than he had when he fell asleep although the surface he was lying on was much more comfortable, he looked around the room and saw a sleeping Noctis and Prompto on the other bed with Ignis sat by his bedside drinking what he assumed was coffee, it was then that Gladio realised he recognised the room they were in.

“Iggy, where are we?” His voice sounded rough and deeper than usual. Ignis couldn’t help but smile as he turned to respond.

“We’re in Lestallum Gladio. How are you feeling?”

“Lestallum? But we were in Niflheim. How long was I out?” With that question Gladio went to sit but realised that was an ill-advised idea, it felt as if every square inch of his body had been crushed.

“Four days I’m afraid. Now, once again, how are you feeling?”

“Like I haven’t moved for four days.” Gladio chuckled as he moved to a position where at least his head was slightly more vertical and no sooner had he stopped moving was Ignis’ hand on his forehead. Before Ignis could say anything, their conversation had woken Prompto who was instantly by Gladio’s side beaming from ear to ear.

“Gladio, you’re awake.” He exclaimed as he through his arms around the man who had been worrying him for days. Ignis tutted when he heard Gladio let out a pained grunt.

“I know you’re excited Prom but do try to be gentle. Gladio your fever’s still there. Do you feel warm at all?”

“If anything, I’m pretty cold.” No sooner had Gladio said this Prompto had ripped his bed’s blanket off of the sleeping Noctis and placed it on Gladio. He then jumped onto the bed and sat next to him revelling on his friend’s company. Noctis quickly stirred after being deprived of his warmth.

“Hey, what gives.” He said with an annoyed tone, which soon disappeared when he realised the reason for his blanket being stolen. “Gladio. How are you, big guy?”

“I’m good thanks Noct.”

“No, he’s not, he’s better, he’s not good.” Ignis just had to clarify the situation he couldn’t help himself.

“How’s about some breakfast.” Noctis asked turning to his friend.

“It’s like you read my mind.” Gladio responded with a laugh.

“Ok, I’ll go get us all something. Ignis?” Noctis held out a palm awaiting money from his advisor. When the Gil was handed over Noctis headed off to town to buy some breakfast for the group.

When Noctis returned Prompto and Ignis were having a conversation with a sleeping Gladio leaning against the young gunman. Noctis handed breakfasts to the two awake men and gently placed Gladio’s sandwich on the dresser next to him ready for when he awoke.

“I spoke to Iris. She should be here tomorrow.” Noctis said as he sat down with his own breakfast and he swore he saw Gladio respond to the mention of his sister’s name.


End file.
